This is a reworking of a post I have done before on a couple of other blogs.

It Is Well With My Soul

Isaiah 66:12 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Horatio Spafford certainly knew a few things about peace like a river, as well as sorrow attending his way. In the mid 19th century, he was a prominent lawyer and real estate investor in the city of Chicago. He was also a good friend with Evangelist D.L Moody and devout man of God. Despite his wealth and prominence, things would not always be a peaceful river for Horatio Spafford; soon things would take a very bad turn for this fellow. First came a serious financial setback. Spafford, having invested heavily in the city of Chicago which was expanding northward, lost most of his substantial investment in the Chicago fire of 1871.

It was two years later when Horatio Spafford’s faith really became tested, it was then that the sorrows began to roll like sea billows in his life. He, his wife Anna, and their four daughters had decided to sail across the Atlantic to be with their friend D. L. Moody as he preached in Europe. Horatio himself was delayed by business, so we sent his wife and daughters on ahead, planning to meet them later. As they traveled across the Atlantic on the steamship Ville du Havre , it collided with another ship and was sunk. All four daughters died, and only Horatio’s wife Anna survived.

Upon receiving word of his great loss, Horatio Spafford immediately got on a ship of his own and headed across the Atlantic. It is thought that the inspiration for this song was given to him as he was notified that his own ship was passing the very spot where his four daughters had perished.

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,It is well, it is well with my soul. Whatever my lot, through the good times and the bad times. God is with us during all of these. James talked about this when he said, Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. There is a man we are all familiar with who’s story sounds so like the one told above. That man is Job, of course. Faced with the loss of everything: his children, his possessions, and ultimately the loss of his own health. Yet through it all, Job had one thing to say: Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job did not know why God was allowing these trials; however, Job knew God. Job knew he had the promise of eternal life with his creator; it was well with his soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,. Time and time again in God’s Word we are told of the simple fact that trial WILL come our way. The words if are never used; trials are a promise and a guarantee. As he began his great writing on living the Christian life, James pointed this out to us when he wrote, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;. He was letting us know that, first of all, trials in this life are simply a part of life. He also instructed us that sometimes trials have a purpose in this life, in that they worketh patience and make us perfect and entire.

Sometimes they are even simply to show us the grace God provides to get us through the tough spots. We all remember Paul and the thorn in his flesh, and how he besought the Lord thrice that he be granted relief; but, the Lord didn’t remove that thorn, instead telling the Apostle, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

Let this blest assurance control,That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul. Another great song is Blessed Assurance, where we see the following, Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine, and how true that is. We are his also, as He did shed His blood for our very soul, and we are bought with a price

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—My sin, not in part but the whole, My sin, your sin, and the sin and sins of the entire world. All of us have sinned and transgressed God’s moral law; God Himself inspired Paul to tell us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and there is none righteous, no not one. We can say to our ourselves, “Oh, I’m not THAT bad” or, “Hey, I’m not as bad as THAT guy!” The problem is, we are not evaluated against our own standard of good and bad, or by comparison with any other person; we are evaluated against God’s standard of Holy perfection. Sin, literally means “To miss the mark.” If and archer misses the mark, or the bulls eye, it does not matter if he misses by a tenth of an inch, or by 10 feet, the mark was still missed. That is our problem with God’s standard, we can missed by one “tiny” little sin, or we can be the most heinous criminal who ever lived; we miss the mark either way. Read what James taught us: For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Now, however, comes our problem. God is perfect, and God sets the standard. Holy means perfect and without sin, and it also means God is incapable of abiding with or tolerating sin. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. It started way back in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve only had one small thing they could not do, and that is eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for God told them on that day you will surely die. Not only would they die physically, but spiritually, as their disobedience separated them from God. That is our problem as well, for the wages of sin is death.

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! The writer of this song had joy in the face of all of his tribulation, because he know all was well with his soul. He knew despite what he faced during his life here, that his eternity and his future were secure and that his eternity would be with Jesus in Heaven. Because even though the wages of sin is death, we also see the following promise come right after, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What was paid for on that cross? Every sin past, present, and future. My sin, not in part, but the whole.

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Some day, no matter what happens in this world, and to us, we can always remember this one thing: The Lord is coming back, and things will be made right. If it is well with our soul, then we are Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,Even so, it is well with my soul. Remember that right after Jesus ascended into Heaven, that the angels promised the staring disciples this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. This world is not our home, and what we may face and endure here is merely temporary, as our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: If it IS well with our souls, then we can have the hope of all of these things, and always know that the trials of this life are only passing as we prepare for an eternity where no sin, and no death exist anymore.